Palm Sunday

On this special day that leads into Holy Week, we see Jesus being welcomed in Jerusalem with people throwing their cloths and blankets on the ground while waving palm branches in a festive mood. The gospel reading of this event in fact is not read during the Mass but before the celebration starts, frequently in a distant place from the church, with the blessings of palms and a small procession folloings, at places accompanied by a donkey or two. During the Mass the entire account of the Passion of Christ is read, usually in a dramatized fashion, so that the congregation can also participate. Wherever palm branches are not available, olive branches are used, as is the case in Malta where small branches are distributed to the people after they are blessed. Now the mood in our liturgy changes as we head into Holy Week, leading to the Holy Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter.